Trump doesn't deserve 'mulligan' for his behavior

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, arrives to speak during at the Republican National Convention at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 21, 2016. Perkins said recently that President Trump should receive a ‘mulligan’ for his personal behavior.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, arrives to speak during at the Republican National Convention at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 21, 2016. Perkins said recently that President Trump should receive a ‘mulligan’ for his personal behavior. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Christian evangelical leader Tony Perkins has given President Trump a "mulligan" for his sexual behavior, tacitly recognizing that he has "sinned," something Trump has not done, something, in fact, he has resolutely and aggressively denied.

Isn't the first requisite of moral mulligans acknowledging guilt and begging forgiveness? Have we ever seen (or heard about) Trump literally or figuratively on his knees, which is the recommended posture for mercy-seeking?

Moral do-overs must be earned, must be merited. Moral do-overs are the end result of a series of acts including painful self-loathing, wrenching bouts of conscience, sincere contrition, and, in some branches of Christianity, public or private confession, and mandatory penance.

When I think of do-overs for heads of state, I think of Henry II, who, for his role in the murder of Thomas Becket, walked barefoot to Canterbury Cathedral in sackcloth, was flogged multiple times by 80 monks, and spent a solitary night in Becket's tomb. I don't think of Trump clucking "fake news."